Listed companies in South Korea have seen their sales of land, buildings and other tangible assets reach nearly 2 trillion won ($1.9 billion) so far this year, data showed Sunday, as they are keen to clean up their balance sheets.

According to the data from the financial watchdog, companies listed on the nation’s main and secondary stock markets disposed of tangible assets worth 1.84 trillion won this year, excluding last week’s sale of a prime plot in southern Seoul by state-run power company Korea Electric Power Corp.

Fourteen companies listed on the main bourse sold tangible assets worth 1.47 trillion won this year, taking up the bulk of the total.

The largest seller of tangible assets was Lotte Shopping, the flagship of retail conglomerate Lotte, which sold 617 billion won worth of buildings and land lots.

Most of the companies disclosed that their asset sales are designed to improve finances, according to the data. (Yonhap)